Chapter Eleven: The Tree Of Life Grows Tall You See
"We're under the Empire State building." The Doctor whispered to Rose.
"What for?" She asked him, concerned, as Tala seemed to be constantly watching the Daleks with wide eyes.
"They need something." He murmured.
"We needed an energy conductor. I…am the genetic template. My altered DNA was to be administered to each human body. A strong enough blast of gamma radiation can splice the Dalek and human genetic codes and wake each body from its sleep."
"Is gamma radiation the sun?" Rose asked. He looked at her. "I get them mixed up." She explained, he squeezed her hand tighter.
"Soon…the greatest solar flare for a thousand years will hit the Earth. Gamma radiation will be drawn to the energy conductor and when it strikes—"
"The army wakes." Theta finished.
"Why are we still alive, not that I'm complaining?" Rose asked.
"Your genius. Consider a pure Dalek; intelligent but emotionless."
"But emotions influence decisions, decide the line between victory and defeat."
"Exactly. We must return to the flesh. You have emotions, you express your love for each other." He observed their held hands. "Your love created another Time Lord. Emotions were thought as weak, but it is something you always use to propel yourself towards victory."
"You wouldn't be the supreme beings anymore."
"And that is good." Rose looked confused.
"That is incorrect." One of the Daleks began.
"Daleks are supreme." Another continued.
"No, not anymore." Sec told the sternly.
"But that is our purpose."
"Then our purpose is wrong! Where has our quest for supremacy led us? To this. Hiding in the sewers on a primitive world. Just four of us left. If we do not change now then we deserve extinction. The Oncoming Storm has given into emotion and his race has continued."
"So you want to change everything that makes a Dalek a Dalek."
"If…you can help me."
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"Something's been added." Jack told her looking at the device on his wrist.
"Added where?" She asked, squinting at the readings on the device.
"On the very top of the tower, that's where the Dalekanium is." He covered up his wrist. Martha suddenly realised something.
"Didn't the Doctor break that?" She gestured to the device.
"I won't tell him if you don't." Martha failed to hide her smirk.
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"What's that?" Rose yelled over the klaxon, holding Tala close trying to protect her from the noise. "What's gone wrong?" She shouted. The Doctor pulled at his hair.
"No, no, no. The gene feed! They're overriding the gene feed!"
"Impossible. They cannot disobey orders." The turned to face the Daleks, the one Dalek pointed his gun at Rose.
"The Doctor will step away from the controls." Immediately the Doctor did as he was told, but he stepped towards his wife.
"Stop! You will not fire."
"They are the enemy of the Daleks."
"I am your commander. I am Dalek Sec."
"You have lost your authority."
"You are no longer a Dalek."
"What have you done with the gene feed?"
"The new bodies will be 100 Dalek. Pig slaves, restrain Dalek Sec and the Doctor and his kind." The Doctor pulled Rose back so they stood inbetween the machinery where no one could reach them.
"You are trapped." The Doctor pulled on his ear.
"Well that may be your definition but…" He pressed something behind him. "Always make sure you know where all the exits are." The doors behind him opened and he immediately pulled Rose into the lift. "Bye!" He pressed the button that would take him to the highest floor.
"You helped a Dalek!" Rose gasped. "You actually helped a Dalek! Hang on you helped a Dalek that didn't want to kill us!" She looked at him, he just shrugged, and he pulled her to him holding her awkwardly with Tala between them. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips, she sighed and held him slightly closer. "Theta," She asked, he realised that she hadn't called him that in days.
"Yeah, love."
"Please tell me you're not going to do something stupid."
"Well…"
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"I know it's on the base of the mast." The Doctor said as he stepped out of the lift.
"How…" Jack began.
"Do you really think I wouldn't track your devices signal? Know when you fix it? Have the information relayed back to me? Come on Jack you're not that daft!" Rose sighed and gave Jack a sympathetic smile.
"Insulting people, he must be stressed." Rose muttered. He turned to face her trying to give a retort but nothing came to mind, she gave him a sweet smile.
"Think of it Rose, every time I break that thing he fixes it."
"Can you name one occasion when it's not been useful?" He began to scratch behind his ear.
"That's not the point!" He was saved as the lift bell sounded. He ran towards the control panel, "It's a deadlock seal. I can't stop it."
"Where's it going?" Martha asked him.
"Right down to the Daleks. And they're not going to leave us alone up here. What's the time?"
"I thought you were a Time Lord." Martha asked.
"His timing isn't that accurate!" Rose whispered, the Doctor whipped his head round to face her. "Twelve months!"
"You're never going to let me live that one down are you?"
"NOPE!" She popped the 'p' imitating him.
"11:15. Doc." Jack told him.
"Six minutes to go. I've got to remove the Dalekanium before the gamma radiation hits." He walked outside onto the balcony. "Oh, that's high. That's very-- Blimey, that's high."
"And we've got to go even higher. That's the mast up there, look. There's three pieces of Dalekanium at the base. We've got to get 'em off."
"That's not "we". That's just me." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He gently pulled Rose to one side. "I'll be fine Rose nothing…"
"If you dare say 'nothing can go wrong'." She looked at him slightly, "What are we going to do?" Rose asked, the Doctor squeezed her hand. She smiled slightly despite her fear. "Going down fighting, yeah?" He smirked at her remembering Cardiff.
"Is there a way we can seal the doors?" Martha asked. The Doctor shook his head, looking puzzled.
"How about using the lift as a conductor? That'll stop them." A grin began to appear on the Doctor's face. "I swear you'd be lost without me. Get up that scaffolding and get to work!" She ordered, doing a fair imitation of him. Martha sniggered.
"I swear you've got him wrapped around your little finger." Martha told her as the Doctor began to climb.
"I have since day one." She told her, before they both began to laugh.
"Are you two going to help?" Jack called, Martha nodded slightly, Rose simply shrugged before placing Tala on a chair before helping Jack with scaffolding rods, trying to buy herself and her husband time.
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Rose watched as Jack helped the Doctor down.
"I found him lying unconscious." He told her, Rose's gaze narrowed. She slapped him not too hard but just enough to sting.
"OW!!" He cried before wincing, "Ow my head." He moaned as his head moved sharply after being slapped.
"You dropped this!" She shoved the screwdriver into his hand.
"Did you get hit by the lighting?" Martha asked him. He nodded slowly.
"He normally has a reason for doing stupid things, and he'd better have one now." Rose discovered she couldn't cross her arms and decided to settle for glaring at him.
"I have a reason." He started to scratch his ear again.
"You've done that too much today." She told him, imitating scratching behind her ear. "So what's your reason?"
"The Daleks will have gone straight to a war footing. They'll be using the sewers, spreading their soldiers out underneath Manhattan."
"And…" She prompted
"There's only one chance. I got in the way. That gamma strike went zapping though me first."
"That's great!" Jack shouted making Rose and Martha jump.
"How is my husband being zapped by lighting 'great'?"
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"I don't think I'll ever look think of theatres in the same way ever again." Rose told them as they entered the theatre.
"It's freezing in here." Martha told her, shivering,
"This should do it. Here we go." The Doctor listened to the frequency of the screwdriver. "Rose did this get hit by lightening?" He asked.
"No, but you did drop it." The Doctor listened again. Suddenly another screwdriver appeared in front of his nose.
"Thanks Jack." He told him, accepting it gratefully.
"Does that mean you won't break my scanner/teleport thing?"
"Nope."
"Worth a try."
"What are you doing?" Martha asked.
"I don't think we want to know." Rose muttered.
"If the Daleks are going to war, they'll wanna find their number one enemy. I'm just telling them where we are." Within a few moments, men entered carrying weapons.
"Humans…with Dalek DNA."
"It's all right. Just stay calm. Don't antagonize them." An explosion sounded making them duck down behind the theatre chairs. The Doctor cautiously peeked his head above the chairs only to see Dalek Sec chained down by all fours on the stage, Daleks surrounding him.
"The Doctor will stand before the Daleks." The Doctor stood on the chairs, sharing a glance with Jack. "The Bad Wolf will also stand." Rose passed Tala to Martha who held her protectively. Rose stood and climbed on top of the chairs, the Doctor wrapped and arm around her waist to support her before helping her towards the stage walking along the backs of the chairs.
"You will die, Doctor, as will your wife the murderer of the emperor. It is the beginning of a new age."
"Planet Earth will become New Skaro."
"Oh, and what a world. With anything just the slightest bit different ground into the dirt. That's Dalek Sec. Don't you remember? The cleverest Dalek ever and look what you've done to him. Is that your new empire? Hmm? Is that the foundation for a whole new civilization?"
"My Daleks…just understand this. If you choose death and destruction, then death and destruction will choose you." Sec told them.
"Incorrect. We will always survive."
"Now we will destroy our greatest enemy, the Time Lords."
"But he can help you."
"The Doctor must die."
"No, I beg you, don't."
"Exterminate!" The Dalek fired upon Sec.
"He was your leader!" Rose shouted. "You can't just do that to your own kind! Haven't you…" She tried to step forward forgetting where she was standing; Theta caught her as she began to fall.
"The only creature who might have led you out of the darkness and you destroyed him." He turned to look at the human Daleks, holding Rose tightly, as she tried to get her breathing back to normal. "Do you see what they did? Huh? You see what a Dalek really is?" He held out an arm to his side. "If we're gonna die, let's give the new boys a shot. What do you think, eh? The Dalek-Humans. Their first blood. Go on, baptize them."
"Dalek-Humans, take aim."
"What are you waiting for? Give the command!"
"Exterminate!" Rose buried her head into her husband's chest as he closed his eyes, waiting for the final shot. When nothing happened she turned to face the Daleks. "Exterminate! Obey. Dalek-Humans will obey."
"What did you do?" Rose whispered.
"You will obey. Exterminate."
"Why?" One of the men asked.
"Daleks do not question orders."
"But why?"
"You will stop this."
"But…why?"
"You must not question."
"But you are not our master. And we…we are not Daleks."
"No, you're not, and you never will be. Sorry, I got in the way of the lightening strike. Time Lord DNA got all mixed up. Just that little bit of freedom." He looked at Rose. "It could have been worse it could've been Rose's DNA." She smiled, before she realised what he'd said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He smiled at her; she knew he was referring to her stubborn streak.
"If they will not obey, then they must die."
"Get down!"
"Exterminate! Exterminate!" Both sides opened fire.
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The Doctor stood up and pulled Rose up with him. He walked over to one of the hybrids.
"It's all right. It's all right. It's all right. You did it. You're free." He smiled, but it quickly faded as the hybrids gripped their heads and screamed. "NO! THEY CAN'T! THEY CAN'T!" The hybrids fell to the ground – lifeless. "They killed them. Rather than let them live. An entire species. Genocide."
"One Dalek's still alive." Jack told him.
"Oh, yes. In the whole universe, just one."
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The Doctor entered the lab; keeping is distance as the Dalek turned to face him.
"Now what?"
"You will be exterminated."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just think about it, Dalek-- What was your name?"
"Dalek Caan."
"Dalek Caan. Your entire species has been wiped out. And now the Cult of Skaro has been eradicated. Leaving only you. Right now you're facing the only man in the universe who might show you some compassion. 'Cause I've just seen one genocide. I won't cause another. Caan…let me help you. What do you say?"
"Emergency Temporal Shift!" The Doctor ran towards the Dalek in an effort to stop it, it vanished just before he reached it. Jack entered the room.
"It escaped." Those two simple words said it all.
"We'll find it Doc, there' only one Dalek left, that's something isn't it?" Jack put an arm on his shoulder.
"Yeah," He tuned to face Jack. "Where's Martha and Rose?"
"The girls are explaining what happened to the people of Hooverville. Someone has too." He nodded. "I don't think Martha will ever want to visit New York ever again." Jack chuckled.
"Lets go home." The Doctor told him.
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The moment Rose and Martha entered the TARDIS they collapsed onto the chair. Jack just sat down on the grating. The Doctor put the TARDIS into the vortex before leaning against the panel.
"Does this mean I can get rid of that toy now?" The Doctor muttered.
"Only if you'll let me burn those blue suits." She challenged.
"Not a chance. What if I promise never to wear a tie with the suit, can I get rid of it now?"
"Nope, Tala still loves it." He cursed under his breath.
Martha leaned forward and whispered into Rose's ear. "I'll baby-sit Tala if you want." Rose looked at her; Martha gave her an encouraging smile.
"She needs feeding and bathing and…" Rose began.
"I'll do it." Martha assured her. Rose stood and Martha gently shoved her in the direction of the Doctor. He raised and eyebrow as Rose took his hand.
"What…" He shook his head confused. Rose pulled on his arm, motioning for him to follow her. He began to walk with her. Jack smiled at Martha and mouthed 'Thank You'.
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Rose pulled the Doctor down the corridor towards their room.
"Rose?" He asked unsure of what was happening. Rose pressed a gentle kiss to his mouth.
"Martha's looking after Tala for us." Rose opened the door and pulled him into the room. She sat down on the bed, motioning him to sit down next to her.
"Rose tell me you're not being pressured into this?" He knew the answer already but he wanted to make sure. She shook her head. "Okay." He looked at his hands; an uncomfortable silence filled the room. He heard a soft sobs come from Rose. He slid off the bed and knelt before her. He gently lifted her face and saw the silent tears.
"I don't even know why I'm crying." She told him.
"I do." He whispered. "I won't make you do anything you don't want." Rose pressed her hand do his cheek.
"I know that." She reached for his hand, and played with his wedding ring. "I love you." She told him. He pressed his palm to hers, imitating their marriage ceremony.
"Love you too." She smiled, all of her worries gone completely with those three words. He leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, Rose responded gladly wrapping her arms around his neck and running her hands though his hair. Rose leaned back pulling him on top of her. He pulled back and smiled at her.
"How long is Martha babysitting Jack for?" He whispered into her ear.
"Don't you mean Tala?" She asked.
"Martha can cope with Tala, Jack is a different story."
"Not sure," She laughed. He leaned down and kissed her again.
"Lets make the most of it then." Everything was back to normal.
TBC
A/N: Does anyone mind how I've changed Martha's character slightly?